Chemical spill causes alert

A chemical spill sparked a full scale emergency operation on Monday night.

Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service were called to a chemical spillage at an electronics firm in Ashchurch, Tewkesbury.

The chemical was quickly identified and the spillage dealt with and there is no risk to people living nearby. No one was hurt in the incident.

The incident occurred at Zlin Electronics at Ashchurch Business Centre.

The call came in at 9.10pm and the first fire crews on the scene entered the premises wearing breathing apparatus. There was no need for chemical suits.

The chemical spilled is a product used for copper etching on printed boards. The Environment Agency attended the incident and gave advice to the company about how to best dispose of the material. The company’s staff at the scene then completed the clean-up.

Unsure of the scale of the incident when the call first came in, there was a large response. Two fire engines from Cheltenham, two from Tewkesbury, the Environmental Protection Unit from Stroud and an Incident Response Unit from Cirencester all attended, while Chipping Campden sent extra breathing apparatus.

However, this was purely precautionary and very few of these resources were actually used.